Daniel Moye's Technical Writings

responsibility of the geologist. The rising curve of
expenditure on exploration should be matched by a
comparable increase in the employment of geologists
and associated specialists and services.

Under present conditions funds can be raised
quickly to finance exploration, but the additional
large numbers of geologists required can by no means
be so readily obtained. Although statistics are lacking
there can be no doubt that the ratio of number of
geologists to expenditure on exploration has fallen.
This fall must be limiting the effectiveness of the
exploration effort and increasing the cost of funds,
Few foresaw the rapid increase in exploration activity
and it is not surprising that it has found Australia
seriously short oi geologists, especially of experienced
geologists to lead the work and geologists well-trained
in the most modern exploration methods.

The census conducted by the Geological Society
of Australia in 1967 found the total number
of geoscientists to he about 1,720 including 1,130
geologists, 340 geophysicists and 50 geochemists;
some 200 were at universities, 550 in Government
employment and 970 in industry. This is a small
number considering that the demands on geology
are basically related to the size of the country rather
than to its population.

The geological profession has
to service a continent of three million square miles,

comprising 5 per cent of the land surface of the
world, with a present average population density
of geologists of one per 2,600 square miles.

Geologists cannot be produced quickly. Firstly
a sufficient number of students must be motivated
towards making a career in geology. Then a minimum
of three and preferably four years of tertiary education
must be allowed followed by several years in
which to gain professional proficiency through
practical experience.

Demand now far exceeds supply, and there is
intense competition for those available. This in turn
is having a serious effect in other fields where geologists
are employed. One undesirable consequence is that
it has caused severe difficulties in maintaining adequate
numbers of staff with sufficient experience in the
State Geological Surveys and the Bureau of Mineral
Resources. This is occurring at a time when not only
is there an increasing requirement for their indispensable
traditional services, particularly regional
mapping, but also when there are great masses of new
information flooding in from the work of the exploration
groups which require to be evaluated and
incorporated in the general geological records. It is
essential that these services be operated efficiently and
in fairness to the dedicated and loyal staff who are
keeping the surveys going it is to be hoped that the
authorities will take realistic steps to restore and
stabilize the situation.